There are dozens of super-cute pics up on our contest page already—take a peek, then send us yours! The winning photo will be selected after the contest concludes on August 31—the grand prize winner will receive a pet travel gift pack filled with vacation goodies from the ASPCA and our friends at Subaru.

We can hardly believe the 2013 ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge is nearing the finish line, but we couldn’t be more excited to share that in June and July, the Challengers saved a total of 36,790 animals’ lives! Competing shelters achieved this by adopting out or reuniting pets with their guardians—and they saved nearly 8,000 more lives than during the same two months last year.

We’d like to congratulate the shelters in each division that saved the most additional cats and dogs by the end of the first two months of the Challenge:

Attention, pet parents: The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) has voluntarily recalled specific lots of dry pet food due to potential Salmonella contamination. No Salmonella-related illnesses have yet been reported in association with these product lots, but P&G is recalling them as a precautionary measure.

American horses have quite literally dodged a bullet as a meat processing plant in Iowa has officially withdrawn plans to start slaughtering horses for human consumption.

While the struggle to prevent U.S. horse slaughter is far from over, this announcement is another victory resulting from a string of efforts by the ASPCA and other national and local organizations to ensure that the American people’s voices are heard: Opposition to horse slaughter for human consumption is broad and deep across every demographic.

A plant in New Mexico has also received a grant of inspection to slaughter horses, but it is on hold pending litigation and faces strong opposition from the state’s attorney general and governor. This means we have time to stop horse slaughter before it starts, and we implore you to join us today by urging your members of Congress to cosponsor the SAFE (Safeguard American Food Exports) Act.

Championed by Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC) and Representatives Patrick Meehan (R-PA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), to the SAFE Act would prevent the slaughter of American horses as well as their transport to other countries for this purpose.

We have been simultaneously pressing for protections in the FY2014 Agriculture Appropriations bill to prevent tax dollars from being spent on inspections for these plants—no inspections would amount to a de facto ban on horse slaughter on U.S. soil. We must now ensure this language remains in the final version, which Congress is likely to take up next month when it returns from recess.

We know that slaughter is no answer to the problem of horse neglect—that is a hollow argument used by the industry to cover up its greed and abuses (and we are working with a vast network of horse rescues all over the country to provide at-risk horses with safe havens from commercial slaughter). Every step we take together brings us closer to a real and lasting victory for horses! Please take action now!

Attention cat lovers! If you’re a fan of all things feline, we know you’ll be excited to hear about the Feline Arts Council, a new program from our longtime partner Fresh Step cat litter.

The Feline Arts Council, comprised of some of the utmost authorities on creative cat creations including ASPCA cat expert Eileen Hanavan, is on a mission to promote the paw-sitive representations of cats in mainstream culture. The Feline Arts Council will bestow its seal on America’s top purr-worthy products, which will be donated to the ASPCA and sold in our Online Store.

To kick off the program, the Council selected a handmade sterling silver cat ring, designed by Catherine Dmitrieva, owner of the Etsy shop KatStudio. The proceeds from each purchase of the limited-edition ring, available here in sizes 5-9, will benefit the ASPCA.